The present invention relates to a device for transporting vaults for urns containing cremated human remains.
Cremation is one method commonly used to handle the remains of deceased persons, wherein the body is incinerated in a furnace or retort and thereby reduced to gases and bone fragments. Gases are exhausted to the air during cremation, and the remaining bone fragments are pulverized in a cremulator to reduce them to what is commonly referred to as “ashes” or cremated remains.
The cremated remains are typically delivered to the deceased's family in a container called an urn. The final disposition of the cremated remains depends on the wishes of the deceased and/or his/her family and their cultural and religious beliefs. In some instances, the cremated remains may be interred in a cemetery, much the same as an uncremated body is buried in a casket. In such instances, it is common to place the urn in a vault prior to interment.
Vaults for urns containing cremated remains are generally made out of concrete, typically rectangular in shape, on the order of 17 to 18 inches high, by 14 to 15 inches wide, by 14 to 15 inches long, and can weigh 100 pounds or more. Because of their relatively small size and relatively high weight, such vaults are difficult to transport and place in the ground.
One method commonly used to place vaults in the ground is through the use of a cable and boom truck. Notches are typically formed in each of the vertical edges of the vault. A cable is wrapped around the vault and inserted in the notches to hold them in place as the vault is raised and lowered. The free end of the cable is attached to a boom on the boom truck so that it can be lifted above the ground, transported to the interment site and then lowered into the ground. This process is cumbersome, time consuming and costly, and requires the use of a boom truck.